Convertible playpen and bed guard construction



A. J. RANDALL 2,774,080

ED GUARD CONSTRUCTION 2 Shets-Sheet 1 Dec. 18, 1956 CONVERTIBLE PLAYPEN AND B Filed Feb. 1. 1954 L If!!! Dec. 18, 1956 A. J. RANDALL 2,774,030

CONVERTIBLE PLAYPEN AND BED GUARD CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 1, 1954 p 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent 6) CONVERTIBLE PLAYPEN. AND. iiiil GUAniii CONSTRUCTION Alvin-J. Randall; Evanstdn', Ill; ApplicationFebruaryt 1,195.4, Serial. No.-4(l7, 49.7.. 6 Claims. or; -93 I invention relates to cliiltlre'nlsplaypens, and" particularly" it relates to childrens-' playpens which are convertible into guard devices for-beds.

Customarily, when a childreaches'the -age'ofiapproxi mately-one and a half years, the parents-are-confronted with the problem of providing a suitable-bed forthe" childother than a crib. Heretof'ore, at suchtime either a junior bed, which issubstantiallysmaller tlian a co'nvem tional'adult bed, or anadult bed, was=provided for-the: child; Junior beds are provided with-fixed railsand guard members to prevent the child from falling dutt However, as conventionally manufactured; junior beds quickly become obsolete because the' child outgrows thebed. Inthe latter instance, i; e. when an adu'lt bed is provided, ample protection is notafforded ai1'-iiifa;nt-, too big for a crib, but too young for a bed not equipped with suitable guard means-to preclude falling.

It is an object of thisinvention tofprovide a device that is originally used by a child untilabout the; time it is-ready to be;removed from a crib ancLwhich thereafter becomes obsolete, as regards its original. use, but which thereafter may be converted into a, guard device for a standard bed. 3

Commercially available childrenis. playpens; normally provide a plurality of rails defininga square, slightly, in excess of 39- inches. Commercially. available: twinrsi'z e beds are, substantially 39 inches wide.

It is an object of this invention to provide a play-penifor a child which is adapted to be quickly and easily converted' into. a guard device for aconventional twin-site bed..

It. is a further object of this invention to provicgl eia childs playpen having an end member. and a floor-merr ber. connected to the end member, saidend member. and said floor member being removable from the playpen to thereby provide a-guard device for abed.

11515 8. stillfurther object of. this invention to'pmvide a playpen which. is convertibleintoaguard device for a bed, and which is adapted'to be reconverted into a playpen;

Other and further objects of this invention -will' beeonie apparent from the following description and appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and numbers of reference thereon.

On the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the invention, the removable end member and floor having been removed.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the removable end member and floor.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the invention used as a bed guard and shown mounted about a standard twin-size bed.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a persspective view of an end portion of the support member.

2,774,089 Patented Dec. 18, 1958 Fig: Gisa detail in perspective illustrating the female members H 11, as illustrated in Fig. 1; and a hingelSa connects therails 13, 13 of each of the side memhers-"1 1, 11, thereby providing a means by which the rail's may'be'folded inwardly, as illustrated in Fig; 8. To keep the side members 11, 11 rigid, a conventional pivoted latcli"16 is mounted on each of the sections l-lband i's' releasably engaged on the lug 17, which is mountedon-eachof the sections 11a.

- The head member 18 is hingedly connected 'to one end of each-of the side'members 11, 11- by means of apair of'suitablehinges 19, 19' mounted on the headboard 1'8, and ontlie'respective verticalend rails 20, 20 of side members 11'; 11;

The head'memb'er 18 may be either of a solid type fabrication as illustrated or an'opentype fabrication, simi lar-to -th'e' construction of'the'side-members 1-1, 11.

asters 22, 22' are mountedin anyconventional'fashion on -the bottom of the head member 18 A support member- 23" is removably mounted on the head member 18',- as'illustratedin Figs. 1 and 4, by means of a plurality of releasable fasteners 24, only one of whichis' shown on the drawings. The fasteners 24, in the preferred' em bodiment, each comprises a screw having a large oval type hea'd 26'that is extendablethrough a mating keyliole'slot-27 in support member 23. Thesupport member 23; in the"preferredaembodiment, comprises a metal tube ofrectangularcross section that has a wooden plug 25'- pressed into-each end thereof, onebeing illustrated in Fig. 5; An' angle pin 28 is secured in each wooden plug25. By moving support member 23'upwardly' from the-position illustratedin Fig. 4, the support member 23 may be disengaged from head member 18.

One of the end supports 29, 29 is mounted'on the end of each side member 11, 11. Each of the-endsupports .29; 29-has secured thereto, on theouter surface thereof,

an-upperrfe'male hinge'plate 30and a lower female-hinge plate 31; A'pair of casters 32, 32 are mounted in the conventional f'ash'ion'on end supports 29, z9 respectively.

A removable end member 33, comprising an upperrail 34; al'ower rail 35 and a plurality of spaced vertical slats 36 is' removably securable to the sidemembers 11; 11. The end member 33 has secured thereto, and integral therewith, on the opposite ends thereof, a pair of wide slats 37, 37 of a width sutficient to accommodate floor 38, when it is fully folded, as illustrated in Fig. 8. Each of the slats 37 has secured thereto an upper male hinge plate 39 and a lower male hinge plate 40, illustrated in detail in Fig. 7. Hinge plates 39 and 40 are each provided with a hinge pin 41 which is removably positionable in hinge barrels 42, 42 of respective female hinge plates 30 and 31.

The floor 38, previously identified, comprises section 43 and section 44, which are hingedly connected together by means of suitable hinges 45, only one of which is shown in Fig. 2. The free end 46 of section 43 rests upon the support member 23 when the device is used as a playpen. Further support is given floor 38 by angle brackets 21 secured to respective lower rails 13, 13, as

a a J illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3. The floor 38 is secured to the lower rail 35 of removable end member 33 by snit-' able hinges, 48, 48.

To use the device as a guard-means-fora bed, the

floor 38 is folded up against the slats 36. of removable end 33 and the latter isvertically lifted, thereby disengaging the pins 41 from the barrels 42. Tlzrereafter,

the support member 23 is disengaged, from screw heads 26 and the connect edside members 11, 11 and head member 18 are removed to the position illustrated in Fig. 3. The support member 23 is then positioned beneath bed 47, as illustrated in Fig.3, theangle pins 28,

and being secured to saidside members; connector means t on the ends of said side members opposite said first 28 engaging the barrels 42, 42 of hinge plates 31 31,

as illustrated in phantom in rigidbedguard. h Inasmuch as various changesmay be made in thedis: closed construction, and inasmuch as many widely,,differing embodiments may be; constructed without depart ing from the spirit and scope of the invention, it is therefore intended that the specification and drawings not be interpreted in a limiting sense, but as illustrative only.

I claim:

. 1. A playpen comprising a pair of foldable side members, a head member hingedlysecured-to one end-of each of said side members; an (end member removably hinged to the otherend of each'of said side members; a transversely extending floor support member removably mounted on the head member; a floor hingedly secured to said end member, and apair of connectors on said side members and opposite said-head member, said connectors releasably mounting said supportjmember when said end member is removed.

Fig. 1, thereby providing a end member; a vertical second end member releasably connected opposite said first end member to said side members; a playpen flo'orconnected to said second end member and when in' use extending inwardly toward said first end member, said second end member and said floor being removable from said playpen; a releasably mounted floor support mounted adjacent said first end member opposite the. connector means when said article is used as a playpen, said floor support being connected to said connector means and disposed opposite said first end member when said second end member and floor are removed from the playpen to thereby provide a bed guard.

6. A convertible playpen and bed guard device com;

prising a pair of opposed vertical side members and a head member all being collapsably connected together;

an end vertical member removably mounted on the outer:

portion of said floor member opposite said end vertical; member extending-inwardly toward said head member,

and bearing against said floor support when-said device 2. A device providing guard rails and a headboard for v a bed, comprising a frame including three vertical members; a support member removably mounted on the ends of two of said vertical members opposite said headboard beneath the side rails of the bed and means on said headboard for releasably securing thereto said support member.

3. A playpen device having a removable floorand a removable end member and providing a guard and headboard for a bed, said guard and headboard comprising three vertical members of a playpen; a support member removably mounted on the outer ends of an opposed pair of said vertical members when saidfloor and end member are removed, said support being positionable on the other .of said vertical members to thereby support the floor of the playpen only when all the playpen members are assembled.

4. A playpen device adaptable for use as a guardfor a bed comprising a foldable floor; a vertical rigid end member pivotally secured to said floor; a pair of vertical foldable side members, said end member being remov-v ably and pivotally secured to said side members; a vertical head member pivotally secured to said side members; a floor support member removably secured to said head member and being normally mounted on the ends of said side members only when said end member is removed.

is usedas a playpen, said floor support being releasably;

and operably connected to. the outer ends of said vertical side members to hold them apart when said device is, employed as abed guard.

References Cited in the tile of this patent V UNITED STATES PATENTS 107,774 Gregory Sept. 27, 1870' 469,131 Freid Feb. 16, 1892 1,066,976 Atkinson July 8, 1913 1,093,774 Fagan Apr. 21,1914 1,175,673 Anderson Mar. 14, 1916- 1,198,475 OGorman Sept. 19, 1916 2,041,509 OByrne May 19, 1936 2,100,789 Swazey Nov. 30, 1937 2,173,639 Swanson -i. Sept. 19, 1939 2,308,608 Kennedy Jan. 19, 1943 2,371,844 Redman' Mar. 20,1945 2,375,941 "Nostrand May 15, 1945 2,459,445 McClintock Jan. 18,1949 2,504,028 Liefl. Apr. 11, 1950 2,606,329 Connally 1 Aug.'12 1952 2,697,843 Skrmetti Dec. 28, 1954 v FOREIGN PATENTS x 209,958 Switzerland Aug. 16, 1 940 1 OTHER REFERENCES Popular Mechanics, article by B ld page 181. (Copy in Div. 8.) p v I 4 

